The Emperors Return
by Blackwingcrow
Summary: Dante and Nero are informed of a series of abnormal murders on an island near Fortuna. Upon arrival, they discover that something much bigger is going on and must figure out who they can trust. However, trust is a double edged sword... NO YAOI
1. Prologue

The Emperors Return

Prologue

Sparda, the legendary dark knight

Traitor of demons

Friend of humans

Who took sword in hand for the sake of man-kind

A demon with a heart

With feelings, that could love another person

Eva

Who bore twin sons

In which the blood that flowed through their veins

Was of demon and human alike

Mundus

The demon emperor

Archenemy of Sparda

Who sent demons to murder his family

But to then be sealed away by Sparda

Sparda the legendary dark knight

Eva who gave her life for her sons

Mundus the demon emperor

Three brought together by fate

Three destinies

Two were to protect, one was to destroy

But only one survived...

* * *

><p>Me:okay so that was the prologue and I wonder if anyone is going to read this fic... anyway if you have read this I hope you enjoyed it!<p>

Dante: I didn't

Me: Why?

Dante: because I'm not in this chapter

Me: you're in the next one and besides this is the prologue

Dante: I know, I like the next chapter

Me: why?

Dante: I read you're notepad

Me: don't say anything! Anyway review if you want to and thanks for reading!


	2. Just another day at the office

The Emperors Return

Chapter 1: Just another day at the office

"Make this quick Lady"

Dante was sitting at his desk in Devil May Cry, with his feet up. The expression on his face showed that he wasn't in the mood for one of Lady's requests. Trish was sitting on the corner of the desk itself, wearing a similar expression, although hers was a little better than Dante's.

Lady, who stood in front of the sleepy pair with her armed folded, seemed to ignore this "someone's in a bad mood."

Dante yawned, "Well you would be too if someone had dragged you out of bed at nine in the morning after you had been out hunting demons until _three _O'clock."

"Maybe you shouldn't stay up too late" Lady argued.

"It's not my fault demons like to come out at night," Dante complained.

Lady sighed "if you're this lively for an argument then you probably have the energy to listen to me."

"Fine," said Dante; he wasn't in the mood to argue anymore, especially with Lady.

"For a few weeks now, there have been a series of murders on an island near Fortuna" said Lady.

"And where do I come into this?" asked Dante, already bored.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

"Well I don't know much, but every victim has been killed in an abnormal way" Lady explained. This got the red clad hunter's attention.

The red clad took his feet off the desk, suddenly interested. "In an abnormal way?" Dante asked.

"Yes," said Lady.

"So you think it's the work of demons?" asked Trish.

Lady nodded, "precisely."

"What's the island called?" asked Dante.

"Crimson Island," Lady replied.

Dante thought for a moment, before coming to a decision. On one hand he could stay in all day, sleep (or at least try to) and eat pizza. On the other hand, he could take the job and then kill something, go trigger happy, sleep and do all of that while eating pizza. Not to mention get paid as well.

"I'll go check it out. In the meantime, could you take the calls Trish?" asked Dante.

"Sure" Trish answered. "You owe me though."

"For what?" the half-demon asked, genuinely confused.

Trish sighed.

Dante got up, grabbed Ebony & Ivory and placed them in their holsters. He then sheathed his sword; Rebellion on his back and opened the shop door.

"See ya later" he said with his two finger salute.

Trish and lady rolled their eyes.

Once she knew Dante was out of earshot, Trish spoke.

"So, you gave Dante you're dirty work again huh" said Trish.

"What! You make it sound like a bad thing that I'm helping you get called out for jobs" Lady protested. She sat down in Dante's chair.

"Yes I am, because we both know you like dumping your dirty work on Dante" said Trish.

"Maybe, but you have to admit that its fun" said Lady. A smirk made its way on to her face.

"That I won't deny" said Trish. "And besides, it gives us more of a chance to kill demons."

Lady nodded, "I agree with that."

* * *

><p>Dante walked through the streets of Capulet city, heading in the direction of the port. He had been given some concerned looks, regarding the sheathed Rebellion on his back. It didn't bother him anymore because he was used to it by now. Dante looked at the people around him.<p>

_They seem more nervous than usual _he thought.

He looked up ahead and saw a familiar ivory haired teen wearing a long dark blue trench coat. He had a sword sheathed on his back which was called Red Queen. Dante also noticed that he had the right hand sleeve of his coat rolled down and was wearing a red and black glove on his right hand, which was obviously to hide his devil arm. Dante smirked.

"Hey, kid. Wait up!" he yelled.

Nero stopped and turned around to see Dante walking towards him. He put on a confused expression.

"Dante what are you doing outside of Devil May Cry, at _this_ time in the morning?" asked Nero.

"I thought I might grab some pizza" said Dante, rubbing his hands together.

"Pizza? Dante you're normally still asleep at ten in the morning." Nero stated, pointing at the older hunter.

"It's not my fault demons like to come out at night." Dante muttered, so they didn't attract more attention from passersby. "And I would be up now, for your information, but I'd probably be sitting at my desk."

They continued walking. It seemed that Nero was going in Dante's direction.

Nero sighed, "So are you on a job right now? I mean you are headed to the port right?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm catching a boat to Fortuna" Dante explained.

"So am I" said Nero "I feel bad about leaving Kyrie here alone though"

"I'm sure Lady will go visit her. Trish too, they're pretty good friends" said Dante. He had wondered for some time how the two female devil hunters had become friends with the sweet, innocent Kyrie, but he decided that it was something to do with the so-called 'complexity' of the female nature.

"I guess so. Why are you going to Fortuna? It's still a wreck from when Sanctus trashed it three months ago" said Nero. "That's why Kyrie and I moved here."

"I'm actually getting on another boat after we get there, to a place called Crimson Island" Dante explained.

"That's odd because I'm there too" said Nero. "Someone who was in the order told me people had been going missing, but then would turn up dead a week later with two stab wounds on their chest outside the cathedral."

They arrived at the dock and joined the cue to get on the ship. It was massive and looked like it could easily hold about a thousand people when it was full. The ship also seemed like it would have a few shops on board, that sold things that were way too overpriced. People hurried past them with worried expressions. Dante sighed at this; sometimes people even ran away from him if he looked them in the eye, yet he wasn't someone to be afraid off and neither was Nero. The red clad brushed his thoughts away.

"Really, that's interesting" said Dante. He was starting to have ideas about this case already, even though he knew barely anything about it.

"What, do you have an idea about what's causing it?" asked Nero.

"I'll tell ya when we're on the kid, we're attracting enough attention as it is" said Dante, while looking around.

A lot of people were staring at them, or giving concerned looks.

Nero nodded and they continued to cue up to get on the boat.

* * *

><p>Dante: mmm... Pizza...<p>

Me: I agree...

Nero: *slaps forehead* Pizza addicts

Me: hey I can't help it

Dante: nether can I

Nero: yes you can

Me: shut up. Anyway review if you want to and I hope you enjoyed it!

Dante: I want pizza

Me: same

Nero: Dante how could you turn an innocent 14 year old in to a pizza addict with your influence

Me: I like pizza anyway

Nero: whatever


	3. Murder mysteries

The Emperors Return

Chapter 2: Murder mysteries

Nero and Dante had now boarded the boat that was going to Fortuna and were now sitting at a table that was located at the front of the top deck. Nero looked around and made sure no one was eavesdropping on them before starting the conversation, "Tell me what you're thinking" he said.

Dante also checked for eavesdroppers and then replied, "that there's more to this that I thought," He put his feet on the table.

The teen gave him a confused look, "What do you mean?" asked Nero. He saw Dante smirk and felt a bit stupid.

"Well I've been kept in the dark about this case and I don't know too much, but you do" said Dante.

Nero looked more confused, "that made no sense"

Dante sighed; he felt like face-palming, "How much do you know about the murders?" he asked.

"Well, people have been going missing for two weeks. Twelve went on the first week and were all kidnapped one hour after the other. The weird thing is, only eleven went missing on the second week and no one can figure out, who or namely what is doing it" Nero explained. Dante expression changed and he was suddenly in deep thought. The red clad leaned back in his chair, his crystal blue eyes were distant.

"Twelve on the first week, eleven on the second…" Dante muttered. Nero began to see a more serious side of the half devil, not like the cocky self centred idiot he had encountered in Fortuna who had been extremely annoying. In some ways, Dante looked wise at the moment, but only a bit. This was slightly amusing to the teen, because he had never thought that he would refer to Dante of all people as 'wise'. Sure, he was powerful, but wise, now that was just weird.

"Dante?" said Nero in an effort to get the red clad to share his thoughts.

The older half devil continued to think until he came up with an idea, "The numbers aren't equal so... they could be holding someone hostage," Dante suggested, but more to himself.

The teen had picked up on his thoughts, "Not equal? Do demons really care about that stuff?" asked Nero. He had never heard of anything like that before.

Dante snapped out of his thoughts and looked at him, "Kid, you know that demons are thick right? Well for some reason they prefer to kill an equal number of people if they can. I don't know why, they just do," Dante explained. "But they always take the same number of people and that's what makes them stupid because after a while people tend to figure them out."

"Weird," said Nero.

Dante smirked, "Do you know anything else about this case?"

Nero thought for a few seconds "I know that when they were found, they were found individually and were left outside the cathedral with two stab wounds on each side of their chest," said the teen.

"Right it looks like we got our work cut out for us kid, so how about we team up and figure this little problem out," said Dante.

"Thought you'd never ask," said Nero.

The red clad chuckled "okay now that's settled, I'm going to get some pizza."

Nero rolled his eyes "Dante, the cafeteria on this ship only sells slices of pizza."

Dante thought for a second, "Then... I'll get ten slices of pizza."

Nero sighed and followed Dante to the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes and a pizza later, the demon hunters decided kick back in the ships bar and pass the time.<p>

"So, how are you getting along with Kyrie?" asked Dante.

Nero blushed slightly at the question, "We're getting along fine, and it's going alright"

Dante smirked, "Have you asked her the question yet?" He knew the teen was secretly planning to ask Kyrie to marry him and the red clad had to admit that she was a nice girl. Since the young couple had moved to Capulet city three months ago, Dante had seen more of the sweet Kyrie and had grown to like her and saw her as a friend.

The teen went a bright shade of red, "No! But-I," He sighed and took a deep breath "I haven't had the courage to ask her yet."

The red clad chuckled, "Kid, you've fought demons, you can handle a little question"

"Really?" asked Nero.

"No," Nero gave him a confused look "I'm joking"

The two sat there for a minute until Dante spoke again, "So, how long is this boat ride?" he asked.

"You don't know?" said Nero, "How did you get there last time?"

"I took the plane," the red clad replied.

"Well, it should be another three hours" said Nero.

"Okay then, time for some shut eye," Dante put his feet on the table and attempted to catch up on some sleep.

"Why are you always asleep in the day?" Nero asked.

Dante spoke but kept his eyes closed, "Well I would normally awake at this time, but I was out killing demons until three O'clock this morning" the red clad explained.

"And then Lady woke you up I suppose," said Nero. He knew full well what Lady was like when she woke the red clad up in the morning...

_It had been two weeks since Nero and Kyrie had moved to Capulet city, and the teen was currently on his way to meet Lady at the Devil May Cry shop. The young half-demon had only met the Gunslinger two weeks ago, but had already become good friends with her and Trish. The teen walked up the steps and into the shop, where he saw an angry Lady talking to Trish._

_"What do mean he's not up yet?" Lady exclaimed._

_"He's currently too lazy to drag himself out of bed," Trish explained. She looked behind the fiery Gunslinger and saw Nero come in, "Oh, hey Nero."_

_Lady turned around before the teen could say anything, "Right so Nero's here now and he still hasn't dragged his ass out of bed? That's it; he's in for it now!" She stormed upstairs._

_"What's going on?" The teen asked, confused._

_Trish sighed, "I'm sure you've noticed that Dante can't seem to get up at the moment, Lady's angry because she wants to get moving and because you're here now, we should be."_

_"He really is lazy," said Nero. _

_The two hunters heard a shot being fired upstairs and sighed. _

_Lady came down looking pleased with herself, "He's coming."_

_Sure enough the red clad walked down the stairs rubbing his chest. He growled at Lady._

_"Next time, don't shoot me." Said the red clad._

_"Then next time, get up," The Gunslinger said..._

"Yeah," Dante replied. He yawned.

Nero leaned back in his chair and sighed; he was also tired. The teen glanced at the bar and saw a man quickly turn his head away from Nero's gaze. The teen suspected something.

"Hey Dante" Nero said quietly. He didn't change his position so the man didn't suspect anything, "There's a guy at bar watching us."

"I know, kid" Dante replied. He kept his eyes closed, "Don't do anything to arouse his suspicion and wait for him to make the first move."

"I'm not that stupid," Said Nero.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, not letting their guard down for a second. Suddenly, the man got up from the bar and walked through the door at the far end of the room. Dante cracked open an eye when he heard the door close. He looked at Nero, "That's our cue" Nero nodded. Dante got up and stretched. They stood up, grabbed their swords that were resting against the wall next to the table and went after him.

* * *

><p>They walked out on to the deck and looked around. Nero went up a set of stairs that lead to a higher deck; he took the glove off his right arm but kept his sleeve rolled down in case anyone saw. Dante meanwhile stayed on the lower deck; he unsheathed Rebellion from his back and searched around for the man.<p>

After ten minutes of looking around, Nero came down onto the main deck. His expression explained everything.

"Let me guess; you didn't find him," Said the older hunter.

Nero sighed, "Nope and I'm guessing you didn't either," Said Nero.

"No, it's weird though; I can't even pick up a trail," Said Dante. His highly trained senses suddenly picked up a surge of Demonic power and he looked up suddenly. Nero seemed to sense this too as he looked as well. They saw that the man that had been watching them was standing on the very top deck. He looked down on them with a pair of eyes that at a close glance, could be seen to be black. He also had black hair and was wearing a pair of jeans and a navy shirt.

"Looking for me?" he asked. He had an evil smile etched onto his face. He was obviously a demon.

Dante chuckled, "Well, that depends on who's asking."

"Forgive my manners, but I do not wish to tell you my name," His expression became more evil. "But I will tell you that I wish to kill you both."

"Now where have I heard that before?" said Nero. He rolled up his right sleeve, exposing the Devil Bringer. The teen then folded his arms and smirked.

"Ha, you couldn't defeat us even if you wanted to," He put on a cocky smile, "And do you realize who you're even talking to?" Dante said, pointing Rebellion at him.

It was now the demons turn to laugh, "Yes I am very much aware who I am talking to, but do you realize who I am?" he asked.

"How can we, you haven't told us your name" said Nero, "But I do know that I'm talking to a guy with a bad dress and a sense of humour to match"

"So, shall we fight now or what?" said Dante.

"First, I'll even the odds" the demon clicked his fingers. Suddenly, about twenty Scarecrows appeared. They surrounded Dante and Nero, and started closing in on them.

The two hunters stared at the Scarecrows in bewilderment, was this demon really serious?

"Scarecrows, are you serious? I was expecting something a little... bigger" said Nero, "But seriously, Scarecrows? Ha, this is gonna be quick." He cracked his knuckles.

"You got that right kid; this won't even let me work off the pizza I had earlier," Dante sighed, "Let's show these guys who they're messing with!"

"My pleasure," Nero unsheathed Red Queen.

The demons began to attack the hunters. The man started to change into his demon form; his hands slowly shaped into long sharp claws and a mist that surrounded him like a black cloak began to appear. After a few seconds, his transformation was complete and it could be seen that this demon was a Faust.

As the Scarecrows launched themselves towards the hunters, Nero maxed out Exceed on Red Queen and charged at them. Once he was close enough, the teen slashed at them with great force, doing massive damage and even Decapitating some. After the deadly opening, Nero grabbed one with his Devil Bringer, smashed it on the floor a couple of times and then threw it at Dante. "Hey Dante, catch!" he yelled.

The red clad turned to see a Scarecrow flying towards him. He skewered the demon with Rebellion and then smashed it into another Scarecrow. "What was that, early Christmas present?" Dante asked.

"Nope, I just wanted to throw something," Nero replied. He sliced a Scarecrow in half with Red Queen.

Dante smirked and prepared to unleash Round Trip. He threw Rebellion in Nero's direction; it sliced though the crowd of remaining Scarecrows and was about to hit Nero when he turned around and caught it.

"What was that for?" Nero asked. He threw Rebellion back at Dante, who caught it easily.

"You throw stuff at me, be prepared to have something thrown back," The red clad replied.

"Whatever," Nero looked around and saw that the Faust was the only demon left.

"H-how, can you be so powerful?" he stuttered.

"You have no humanity; it's that simple," Said Dante.

"What?"

"Go back to Hell," Nero took out Blue Rose and shot the Faust. Dante gave him a confused look, "What? I can't let you take the glory all the time."

Dante chuckled, "Nice one kid."

* * *

><p>6 hours later<p>

The ship had landed in Fortuna.

"Okay, from here we need to take that boat," Nero pointed to a boat on another dock, "To Crimson Island."

"Alright then, let's go," Said Dante.

Nero nodded and they walked to board their next ship.

* * *

><p>Me: Okay there's still no one reading this fic... oh well if you have read this I hope you liked it<p>

Dante: So do I

Nero: Yeah

Me: Thanks for reading if you did...


	4. Welcome to Crimson Island

The Emperors Return

Chapter 3: Welcome to Crimson Island

Dante and Nero stepped off of the boat they had taken to Crimson Island. The teen had told Dante that someone was going to come and give them some of the files from the murder cases, so they had to wait at the dock. The elder devil hunter looked around at the scenery; the buildings were similar to the ones in Fortuna, but they looked a little more dark and gothic. There were also several Knights of the Order that were patrolling around, but they didn't seem like much of a threat to anyone.

"So" Dante began, "This is Crimson Island."

"Yep" Nero answered, "But some people in Fortuna also refer to it as Blood River Island and so do most on this Island in fact."

"Why?"

"Because when the demons first attacked the Islands of Fortuna, they took Crimson Island first... And left a river of blood in their wake" said a man in a white uniform, who was walking towards them. His uniform had a large white hood, which obscured the top half of his face from everyone.

"Who are you?" Dante asked.

"Dante this is Yutaka, he told me about the murders," Said Nero.

"Ah, the infamous son of Sparda... What a pleasure it is to meet you" said Yutaka.

"How do you know Sparda was my father?" Dante asked. He suspected something because not many people knew who his father was, and most that do are demons.

"Here on Crimson Island, we know the legends of Sparda better than anyone." Yutaka explained.

"Pfft, _really_" Dante asked disbelievingly.

"Yes" said Yutaka, "We even know about your brother."

Dante's expression darkened. Now he was deadly suspicious, because hardly anyone knew who he had a brother because he barely told anyone. The index finger on the red clad's right hand twitched slightly, as if he was readying himself to draw Ivory. Nero sensed that there was some friction between them and decided that it would be best if he and Dante got moving. "Do you have the files Yutaka?" Nero asked.

"Here they are," Yutaka handed a folder of paperwork to the teen. The red clad continued to look at him with a darkened expression.

Nero nodded a thank you and then turned to leave. Dante followed him, lost in thought. He looked at Yutaka one last time before he saw him walk away. Once they were out of earshot, the red clad asked the teen something.

"Nero, what's with that guy?" He asked.

"He's always been a bit creepy, but today was different from usual." The teen replied. He looked at Dante, who had a serious expression on his face that displayed some anger. "You think something's wrong don't you."

"Nope," The red clad hunter said.

The teen sighed "Yes you do."

"And what gives you that idea?" Dante asked.

Nero folded his arms, "You only use my name when you're being serious."

"Alright kid; you got me" said Dante, "I'll lighten up okay."

"Okay."

They continued walking until they reached a main street. Looking around, the hunters could see that at the far end of the street, there was a huge white cathedral that towered over the entire town. The demon slayers stopped and looked at it.

The red clad whistled, "That is one damn big cathedral" Dante said.

"Yeah..." said Nero. He had heard about this cathedral and had been told of its colossal size, but he had never imagined that it could be this big.

"So, what should we do now?" Dante asked.

"We should find somewhere to look at these files," said Nero. He held up the folder.

Dante looked confused, "What are those files about again?"

The teen sighed, "The murders." _Isn't it obvious? _Nero thought.

"Oh yeah..." said Dante, "Well if we need a place to look at them; why don't we go to a pizza bar?"

Nero rolled his eyes, "Why is it always pizza?" he muttered to himself.

Unfortunately, the red clad heard him, "Because it's the best food ever." He started walking down the street. Nero followed.

"One day, you'll drop dead from high cholesterol Dante," Said Nero.

Dante chuckled, "And on that day, Lady will be in debt to me. So basically, that will never happen. Besides, everyone has said that to me over the years and I'm still alive and kicking."

"Never say never." Said Nero.

"Shut up."

* * *

><p>At Devil May Cry<p>

Lady and Trish were sitting on one of the sofas in the office when the phone was ringing loudly. Trish got up from the sofa and went to answer it. Lady smirked and hoped that it was a decent job.

"Devil May Cry," Trish said politely. She listened for a few seconds and then decided that it wasn't worth it, "Sorry, no can do." She sighed and put the phone down.

"Who was it?" Lady asked.

"Someone who mistook us for a funeral director again," Trish answered.

Lady sighed, "Seriously?"

"Unfortunately, yes" said Trish.

She went and sat back down on the sofa. Both women sighed; they were bored because both of them had nothing to do. Because Dante was on a job that meant that one of their only sources of entertainment was gone. Trish decided that she'd had enough and stood up and made her way to the front door.

"Where are you going?" Lady asked.

"To visit Kyrie" the blonde demoness replied, "Wanna come?"

"Sure," Lady replied. She stood up and grabbed Kalina Ann.

The two female hunters then left the office to visit their friend.

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later<p>

Dante was eating a pizza in a bar that he had managed to find on Crimson Island. He had a slice of pizza on one hand and a piece of paper in the other, which was presumably about one of the murders. Nero was also eating pizza and reading the files.

"That's interesting," Said Dante. He took a bite from his pizza.

"I know, right" said Nero, "All of the victims are different ages, yet demons like to kill equal numbers. It doesn't make sense."

"Well, there have been twenty three murders so far and like I said earlier, they're probably holding someone hostage" said Dante. "But still, why don't they just attack the whole town?" He put the bit of paper he was holding down on the table.

"Beats me," Said Nero, "But we should probably stake out the cathedral tonight, since that's where most people are going missing."

"I agree," Said Dante. He took another bite from his pizza. He then looked down at his plate to take another piece but then discovered that he had eaten all of it. "Dammit, why there is never enough?"

Nero rolled his eyes, stood up and started putting the sheets of paper away, "Come on, we should find a hotel before all of the rooms are taken."

Dante got up and they walked out of the pizza bar.

* * *

><p>Two hours later<p>

Dante and Nero were in their hotel room discussing about the time that they were going to head out to the cathedral. Dante was lying on his bed with his arms behind his head and his eyes were closed. Nero was looking out of the window at the streets below.

"So, what time should we go?" he asked.

"In an hour or so" said Dante. "The streets should be empty by then."

"The streets are quite empty at the moment," Said Nero.

"Really?" asked Dante. He got up from his bed and walked over to the window and looked out of it. He saw that there was hardly anyone walking around outside and those who were seemed to be hurrying home. "Well, if there's hardly anyone out then I guess we could go now."

The teen nodded, both Devil Hunters sheathed their swords, walked out of their room and then out of the hotel.

"Everyone's probably going home because of the murders" said Nero.

"Yeah, probably" Dante replied. Suddenly, he stopped walking and put his nose in the air; he could smell something familiar and it wasn't a pleasant smell.

Nero stopped and looked at him, "What's up?"

"Can you smell that?" the red clad asked.

"What?" Nero put his nose in the air and concentrated. Then the smell hit him; it made the teen feel sick. Nero knew what this smell was since he had been around it many times before, "Blood..." He looked at Dante.

"We need to hurry," The red clad said.

The pair tore off down the street; the smell seemed to be coming from the direction of the cathedral. As they got closer, the smell of blood got stronger. The two hunters wondered what had happened and if they had been too late to stop something from happening. They stopped outside the cathedral. Dante spotted a pool of blood on the ground in front of them. He crouched down and examined the blood with his index finger and thumb. He then smelt it and caught a familiar scent off it; one that matched his own. His eye's widened.

Dante stayed in his position for about a minute, _it can't be... _The red clad's heart rate slowed and he felt a familiar aura in the air.

"Dante?" Nero questioned.

The red clad snapped out of his thoughts, "I'm fine. You go check inside for anyone, I'll search out here," He walked off and left Nero standing there.

Nero sighed, "Well, guess I am going inside then." He had hoped that Dante would have told him what was on his mind since he knew something was bothering the older hunter, even though he would deny it.

He walked over to the entrance and opened one of the large wooden doors to the cathedral, then went inside.

* * *

><p>Me: I'm sorry for taking so long, please forgive me!<p>

Dante: We hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading

Nero: And now a riddle for all of you;

Me: Those who like Royal blue will enjoy the next chapter (Hopefully)

Dante: Thanks again


	5. Identical

The Emperors Return

Chapter 4: Identical

Nero stepped inside the cathedral and looked around at its structure; it was massive and had at least one hundred rows of seats in it. The main aisle was covered with a blood red carpet. There were several marble columns that stood around the edges of the seats and they were all marked with roman numerals. As Nero walked down the main aisle, he saw several paintings of demons being slain by a warrior and others of humans looking up to him. The teen walked over to one of these paintings and took a closer look at it. Now that he could see the painting close up, Nero realized who this warrior was; _Sparda..._

The young hunter walked away from the painting and continued to walk down the aisle. The inside of the cathedral was dimly lit by a few candles, but things were made visible by the moon which gave an eerie look as it shone through the windows at the sides. The ceiling was far above him and was decorated with more paintings. Nero could see his Devil Bringer emit a soft glow from underneath the glove he was wearing; the light grew stronger with every step he took down the aisle. Instinctively, the teen looked straight ahead of him; if there was a powerful demon nearby then it would most likely be in fount of him and that was when he noticed something out of place.

Ahead of him were three giant stain glass windows. The two that were flanking the one in the middle were only half the size, but easily bigger than any Nero had seen before. The window on his left was white and red and the one on his right was blue and white. The middle window was black and had a silhouette of Sparda made out of purple glass in the middle of it.

But that isn't what got Nero's attention, because at the moment he was more focused on the figure of a person who had been chained up, so they were suspended in the middle of the window.

The teen ran towards the person, "Hey! Are you okay?" he yelled, but there was no answer. As the half-devil got closer, he saw that the figure was clad in a torn royal blue coat that had small blood stains on the edges. He also noticed that the man had white hair that hung down in front of his face.

Nero skidded to a halt and stared at the blue clad figure. _He looks just like Dante, _the teen thought. Suddenly, Nero remembered Dante mentioning something about having a brother...

_"I'm here for the sword" said Dante._

_"Your point being?" Nero asked. As he entered Devil trigger_, _Yamato_ _was summoned from his Devil Bringer and appeared in his right hand._

_Dante shielded his eyes with his right hand, as a wave of Nero's demonic energy was released. "It was originally my brother's" the red clad explained, lowering his hand._

Nero's eyes widened in shock; he remembered Yutaka mentioning Dante's brother earlier today, but he would never have thought that the red clad had a twin. "Brother..." he muttered. The half-breed snapped out of his trance, pulled out Blue Rose and shot the two chains holding the blue clad up. He dropped to the floor and didn't move. Nero ran up to him, put a hand on his shoulder and tried to rouse him.

"Are you okay?" the teen asked again.

Suddenly the blue clad's eyes opened; they were glowing a blood red colour. He got up faster than the teen could see and a split second later, Nero found himself pinned against the nearest column with a hand at his throat.

The Dark Slayer's eyes were filled with hatred and anger, "You're working with them too aren't you?" he growled in a demonic voice.

"What do you... Mean?" Nero barely managed to ask.

The blue clad tightened his grip around the teen's neck, preventing him from breathing. The young half-devil tried to pry the hand away, but it was no use. His eyes slowly closed; he could feel the air being squeezed from his lungs and his life flashing before his eyes. As the teen began to fall into darkness, he heard a small click and managed to open his right eye just enough to see a familiar red clad man.

"Let the Kid go, Vergil" Dante ordered, whist pointing Ivory at him. _I knew it, _he thought.

The man in question snapped his head around to look at his mirror image, loosening his grip around Nero's neck at the same time. Vergil cocked his head to the side, "Dante?" The blue clad's eyes returned to their normal colour and he collapsed, dropping Nero as he went.

Dante leapt forward and stopped Vergil from hitting the floor. The teen landed unsteadily and immediately started gulping in air. Once he had regained his composure, Nero walked over to Dante, who was crouched next to Vergil and crouched down next to him. The teen looked from Vergil's unconscious face to Dante's concerned one.

The older hunter saw his expression, _here come the questions, _He thought.

"Um Dante, this man, is he-"

"Yeah my brother... but how is he alive?" Dante muttered.

"Alive?"

The red clad sighed "Kid, Vergil was brainwashed by the demon emperor about a year ago and forced to fight me. I didn't realize it was him until our last battle... when I killed him. Not that he wouldn't have tried to kill me anyway."

"... You killed him?" said Nero.

Dante nodded "He wasn't my brother anymore; just a slave and it was the only way to set him free. But then again, I obviously didn't kill him because he's right here"

Nero putt on a confused look, "Couldn't he be a demon impersonating your brother?"

"It possible, but he's not" the older hunter replied.

"How do you know?" Nero asked.

"Ever heard of the twin connection?" Dante asked. The teen nodded, "Well any demon could impersonate Vergil and fool everyone but me. Because of the fact we're twins, we can sense if the other is alive or not and this is the real Vergil."

The hunters' attention was drawn to Vergil, who now appeared to be waking up. The blue clad groaned and slowly opened his eyes; he put a hand on his forehead.

"Vergil?" Dante asked.

The older twin sat up and looked at his mirror image, "Dante?" He ran a hand though his hair and spiked it back up, "What are you doing here?"

"I think you should be the first one to say that," Said the red clad.

"Very well but first, who is your friend?"

"This is the Kid, Nero. Now tell me, how are you still alive?" Dante asked forcefully.

Vergil stood up, "After you defeated me while I was Nelo Angelo, I was teleported to a medieval prison cell and have been brutally tortured ever since" Dante's eyes widened, "Happy now that you've asked me that?"

"No, I want to know how you escaped."

Nero just stood there watching them; he could tell the red clad's anger rising for some reason. He looked at Vergil, who was remaining quite calm despite the situation. Suddenly, the teen's Devil Bringer summoned Yamato and the O-katana materialized in his right hand. He could sense that the sword knew that its rightful owner was here.

"I didn't, all I remember is being knocked out and then I woke up here," The blue clad explained.

"Okay, then should we have a fight for old times' sake?" asked the older hunter. He reached for Rebellion.

"No, I want to apologize, Dante for everything I've done in the past" said the blue clad, "So I'm very sorry, brother."

Dante looked at his twin; Vergil's eyes were filled with remorse and Dante could see that this was a genuine apology. He put his hands on his twin's shoulders, "I forgive you Vergil." The red clad knew why his twin had gone on a quest for power since he had figured it out shortly after the Temen-Ni-Gru incident. It was because he wanted compensation for their mother's death and he was corrupted by demons, not by himself and that was the reason for his power obsession.

"I hate to interrupt this heart-warming family reunion, but we have company" said Nero.

The twin's looked at him and then around the cathedral and saw several Scarecrows approaching them.

Dante smirked, "Kid, give Vergil his sword back and come grab a seat."

"What! But I want to kill something," Nero complained, in the style of a small child.

"Just do it." Dante ordered.

"Fine," The teen gave Vergil Yamato and went to sit down next to Dante.

"Why do want me to take care of this?" the blue clad asked.

"You're out of practice, I can tell by just looking at you" said Dante.

"I doubt that, but I'll still fight" said Vergil.

He waited for the demons to surround him completely, not moving once. Suddenly, the demons started to attack and they launched themselves towards him. The blue clad didn't react until the last second, when he smashed the demons away with a sheathed Yamato. He then drew the legendary sword and sliced some of the Scarecrows with it. They didn't appear to have been damaged by the attack and tried to strike again, but all they saw was a flash of royal blue. Vergil sheathed Yamato slowly and when the O-katana's blade was nearly unnoticeable, he sheathed the sword and made all of the Scarecrow's split in half.

Nero stared in amazement; he'd had no idea you could use Yamato like that.

Dante smirked at his twin, "Vergil you truly are back."

Vergil half smiled.

* * *

><p>Me: I'm soooooo sorry don't kill me please. I've been very busy with school stuff and couldn't update. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter.<p>

Dante: It's not her fault; it's her teachers that keep giving her work


	6. The Dark Slayer's story

The Emperors Return

Chapter 5: The Dark Slayer's story

Dante smirked at his twin, "Vergil you truly are back"

Vergil half smiled. He then drew Yamato from its sheath and ran his hand along the flat side of the blade, as if he was feeling for something. The blue clad then did the same to the other side and gazed at the O-katana like it was a long lost treasure. Well, it technically was to Vergil anyway.

"Nero" he began. The teen tensed a little, "You've taken good care of this; there's not a single scratch on the blade" he sheathed the sword. "I'm grateful" The Dark Slayer nodded his thanks.

"No problem" Nero replied.

"Impressed with Vergil's sword skills Kid?" Dante asked, "Because believe me that was nothing compared to what he can usually do." said Dante, "But no one can top me when it comes to swordplay."

"I know two people" said Vergil, "Myself and father."

Dante smirked, "No way; I can kick your ass any day."

"I doubt that, but I could easily beat you in a fight little brother" said Vergil.

"Little brother?" said Nero.

Vergil turned to him, "I'm two minutes older than Dante."

"But by only two minutes" Dante argued.

"Those two minutes are why I'm smarter than you" said Vergil. "Speaking of age, how old are we now?"

"Twenty nine" Dante replied.

Vergil looked at little shocked at this at first, but soon got over it. "Ten years... that's a long time to be a slave to Mundus."

"Nine years actually" said Dante, "It's been a year since the incident at Mallet Island."

"Well, Mundus is someone I don't want to be seeing in a hurry" said Vergil.

Dante chuckled, "Neither do I. How about you Kid?"

Nero shrugged, "You know I've never met him, but I don't think I want to and shouldn't we discuss this back at the hotel? Because I don't know about you but I don't really like this cathedral."

"Good point Kid lets go" said Dante.

Vergil took one last look at the stain glass windows behind him and the followed the other two out of the wooden doors.

When they stepped outside, the blue clad devil instantly wondered where they were. All he could see around him were lots of gothic- looking buildings and a few street lights, but then again it was quite dark.

"Wondering where we are?" Nero asked him.

The blue clad nodded.

"A place called Crimson Island" said Nero.

Vergil's eyes widened slightly, "As in Blood River Island?"

"Yeah, how did you-" Nero began.

"He's read about it probably" Dante interrupted.

"Yes Dante I have, which proves the fact that I am smarter than you" said Vergil.

The red clad laughed, "And that you're a bookworm."

Vergil rolled his eyes, "Well at least I'm not a pizza addict."

They started walking to the hotel; the streets were completely deserted now so they didn't run into anyone.

"If we're on Crimson Island, then Fortuna shouldn't be far from here" said The Dark Slayer. "Am I correct?"

Nero nodded "that's right."

The teen and Vergil turned to look at Dante; who had gone strangely quiet. He stopped for a second and looked around, surveying the area; he could feel something strange in the air. Once he had decided that it was probably nothing, he carried on walking.

"What's up?" asked Nero.

Dante looked behind him and then back at Vergil and Nero, "Nothing, I thought we were being watched that's all."

* * *

><p>The trio walked upstairs to their hotel room. Since there were only two beds in the room, Vergil had agreed to sleep on the sofa in there, as long as Dante didn't wake him up.<p>

The three half-demons took their coats off and Nero also took the glove on his right hand off. Since Vergil was no longer wearing his coat, he now only had his black vest on, which was torn a little on the left side. There were also several small cuts that ran up his arms and a large bruise was on his right shoulder. All of these wounds appeared to be healing, but it still gave Dante and Nero quite a shock.

The blue clad devil saw their slightly shocked expressions and sighed, "It's nothing compared with what else they did."

"Like what?" Dante asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does" said the red clad.

"Dante-"

"Vergil, show me"

The older twin gave in, "Fine, but you're not going to like it." He unzipped the black vest he was wearing and took it off. What Dante saw next made him gasp a little.

Vergil had several large lacerations on his back, that were healing but it still was an extremely painful sight for Dante. Even Nero, who hadn't known the blue clad that long at all, was still shocked at how someone could be hurt in such a way. I was clear to both hunters that what had been done to the blue clad was done recently. Vergil put his vest back on and turned to face them both.

Dante stared at his twin open mouthed, "What the hell did they do to you Vergil?"

"You really don't want to know," the blue clad replied.

There was a silence between the trio for a minute until Vergil spoke again. "Why are you here Dante, are you on a job?" Vergil asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, the Kid and I are here investigating a murder case" said Dante, "Maybe you could help?"

"Sure, what's been going on?" asked Vergil.

"Twenty three people have gone missing in the last two weeks," Nero started. "Twelve on the first week and eleven on the second; when the victims were found, they were found individually outside the cathedral with two stab wounds on each side of their chest."

The blue clad went into deep thought, "Unequal numbers... I think that the cathedral has something to do with all of this." Said Vergil, "But who could be the twenty forth?"

"That's easy; you" said Dante, "Your the most recent victim."

"But I'm not dead" said Vergil.

"Yeah, but I'm sure they were going to try and kill you, I mean that's probably why they chained you up" said Dante.

"How did you know they chained him up; I shot the chains before you came in" said Nero.

"Because I was in there the whole time, only in the background" said Dante.

The teen rolled his eyes, "Anyway, we don't know much about it."

"Well, I think that first off we should go back to Fortuna," Said Vergil.

"Why?" asked Dante.

Vergil leaned back on the sofa, "That cathedral, I'm very sure I've read about it and I think that it has a lot of hidden secrets." Said the blue clad, "Also, in Fortuna castle there is a library with a book in it, which is said to hold all of the secrets of that cathedral."

This got Nero's attention, "What kind of secrets?"

Vergil shrugged, "I don't know."

"Hey Vergil," Dante asked, "Do you remember how you got chained up inside there?"

The Dark Slayer shook his head, "I only remember being tortured and the events that happened before that, like Mallet Island, Temen-Ni-Gru and... the death of our mother." He lay down on the sofa, put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

The younger twin nodded, "So you can't tell us anything?" The older twin was silent, "Vergil?"

Dante got up from his bed and walked over to his twin, who had managed to fall asleep in a very short time. The younger twin smirked, grabbed Vergil's royal blue coat and put it over him. He then walked back to his own bed and lay down on it.

"Is he asleep?" Nero asked in a quiet tone.

"Yeah and I suggest we get some too," said Dante.

"Okay" said Nero.

* * *

><p><em>A man clad in royal blue lay on a marble floor, he was unconscious, covered in wounds of all sorts and was extremely exhausted. Above him, a demon of a colossal size sat, towering over everything in the room. His three burning red eyes were one of the only things in the room with any real colour. <em>

_The blue clad man began to wake up; he looked above him saw the demon and growled._

_"Son of Sparda," the demon started, "You have been defeated and will there for serve me."_

_"I'll never... Serve you... Mundus" said the blue clad._

_Mundus laughed evilly, "Vergil, I'm afraid you have no choice." The demon emperor looked down at Vergil, who was currently too weak to move and shot a red beam at him._

_The Dark Slayer cried out in pain and squeezed his eyes shut; the pain he was going though was mainly in his head and to him it felt like sword was being driven though his skull. He also heard a voice echo somewhere, but couldn't pinpoint it due to the pain he was going though. _

_"You are now reborn as a powerful demon... and will no doubt become one of the greatest of my servants" said Mundus. _

_Vergil prayed for the pain to stop; he wanted to run away and escape the demon world. He wanted to apologize to Dante for the things he had done and make up with him. The blue clad had never run away from anything, but at the moment he feared what would become of him. For the first time in his life since his mother had died, Vergil was scared._

_"Vergil, doesn't exist, he never has done... you are and always have been, Nelo Angelo."_

_The blue clad's eyes shot open to reveal a blood red colour that had eradicated the blue._

* * *

><p>Vergil's eyes shot open and he sat up, panting heavily. He was quite sweaty and could feel the remaining memories of the nightmare he'd had, were slipping away.<p>

"You okay Vergil?" Dante asked from across the room.

"Yeah, I'm fine" he replied.

Dante didn't completely believe him but let it go by, "Okay then, time to get the Kid up." The red clad threw his pillow at Nero's sleeping form and laughed as the teen woke up with a start and glared at him.

"What the hell was that for?" Nero yelled.

"To get you up, so get off your lazy ass and hurry up" said Dante, while putting his coat on. Vergil did the same.

"Fine" said Nero; he got up and put his coat and glove on, making sure his Devil Bringer was hidden.

The trio then left the hotel and began walking to the port.

"So, we're going to the library in Fortuna castle to look for some book" said Dante. "Are you sure we'll find it there?"

"Positive," Said Vergil.

The three half devils walked to the dock that had the boat going to Fortuna.

"Okay then, on we go to Fortuna castle," Said Dante.

* * *

><p>Me: The plot thickens<p>

Dante: Indeed, thanks for reading and we hope you enjoyed it

Vergil: I have returned... finally

Nero: Should I be worried?

Dante: Very


	7. Fortuna Castle

The Emperors Return

Chapter 6: Fortuna Castle

The three half-demons stepped off of the boat and onto the dock in Fortuna. Nero led the way through the streets since he knew all of the shortcuts that would get them to Fortuna Castle quicker. The half-demons walked to an abandoned mining area that had been the battle ground when Nero and Dante had battled Berial. Vergil glanced around; to him it seemed that there were once a few buildings here. He could see that there were several scorch marks on the ground. The blue clad saw the ruined Hell Gate that was in the shape of a broken heart.

"What happened here? It looks like the place was burned to the ground," the blue clad asked.

"It kinda was" said Nero, "I had a fight with a demon called Berial and he cindered the place."

"And then I came here later, and finished him off," said Dante.

Nero gave the red clad a confused look, "You finished him off?" the teen asked.

"That's right Kid" the older hunter replied.

"When did you finish him off?"

The red clad thought for a second, "A little while after you were captured by Sanctus."

The teen nodded, "Did you do that?" He asked, pointing at the Hell Gate.

"Yep"

Vergil, who was ignoring them, walked forward a few paces and looked around. He then felt a presence behind him; he turned around, unsheathing Yamato as he went and pointed it at a Scarecrow, which had tried to creep up on him. Smirking, he sliced it in half and sheathed his O-katana.

Vergil turned around, "Shall we get going?"

"Yeah" said Nero.

The twins followed Nero though the mining tunnels, occasionally stumbling across a demon or two. At one point they walked into a cavern and the only way forward was at the top of it. Nero used his Devil Bringer to get up there, white Dante and Vergil jumped on the wooden platforms, that looked as if they would collapse at any given moment.

When they came out of the tunnels, they were instantly hit by a blizzard that made it very difficult to see. The three half-demons put their arms in front o their faces, so they could try and stop the snow from getting in their eyes. Normally, there were blizzards up by the castle, but this one was heavier than usual. As they walked along the mountain path towards the castle, Nero slipped and fell off. Dante caught his left arm just in time to stop him from falling to his death.

"You alright Kid?" the red clad asked. He pulled him back up.

"Yeah, thanks" said Nero.

"No problem."

The half-devils kept walking until they got their fist view of the castle. Strangely enough, the blizzard cleared up and instead was replaced by a light snowfall. Vergil held out his hand and watched a snowflake fall and melt on his glove; it had been a long time since he had seen snow._ Heh, snow... now that's something I missed in the Demon realm. Snow... it's white... cold... and beautiful. _He smiled softly.

The older twin looked at Fortuna Castle; it was so impressive and mighty. Its gothic look made it a perfect match or the moon that highlighted the towers.

The blue clad half-smiled; fond memories from when he and Dante were younger began to creep up into his mind...

_A six-year-old Vergil looked out of the living room window; it was snowing outside. His eyes brightened at the sight of it; he loved snow and so did his brother. Vergil looked over at his twin who was asleep on the sofa. "Dante!" He ran up to his twin and shook him awake, "Dante, wakeup!"_

_The younger twin groaned and opened his eyes, "What? I'm trying to sleep." _

_"It's snowing!" Vergil said excitedly._

_Dante's eyes brightened like his twin's had, "Really?"_

_Vergil nodded. The sons of Sparda went to the window and looked out; the snow was beautiful as it settled on everything it touched. The twins stared outside, wide eyed and open mouthed. Eva came up behind them and pulled them into a hug. Eva's sons smiled at her sweetly and then the three watched the snow together..._

The blue clad was suddenly prevented from remembering his past, by a snowball that had collided with his face. This caused his hair to fall down. He looked over at the only one who could have thrown that snowball; Dante.

Vergil growled, "Dante!" He made a snowball of his own and threw it in the red clad's direction. The younger twin dodged the projectile and then made a snowball and threw it at Nero; it hit him in the face.

"Hey!" The teen protested.

The half-devils then engaged in snowball fight, not seeming to care about how childish they must look. The fight ended with Dante being bombarded with snowballs from Nero and Vergil.

"Okay, okay stop it" Dante said, chuckling.

"You know the rules Dante; if you provoke me, you must be prepared for a retaliation," Said Vergil. He slicked his hair back and helped his twin up.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" Dante said, brushing himself off. "Anyway, we should get going."

The trio walked down the side path which lead to the snow covered courtyard. Since it had seemed to have gotten colder near Fortuna Castle, the ground was very icy but this didn't bother the half-devils too much, so they just carried on walking. As they crossed the bridge to the castle, Vergil looked over the edge at the sheer drop, which would mean certain death to anyone that fell off of the bridge.

"Now, let's go look for that book you were talking about" Dante said to Vergil.

Dante tried to open the doors to the castle, but failed miserably. He attempted to kick them down, but it didn't work. The red clad whipped Ebony & Ivory out and was about to open fire, when Nero and Vergil walked in front of his aim and tried to figure out a better way to open the door.

"The doors appear to be frozen shut" said Vergil.

"Wow, thanks for stating the obvious Vergil" Dante said sarcastically. The older twin rolled his eyes.

The blue clad unsheathed Yamato faster than the eye could see, stuck the O-katana between the two doors and moved the sword down, breaking the ice in the process. The Dark Slayer then re-sheathed his sword and the trio walked inside.

* * *

><p>Lady and Trish had spent the night at Kyrie's apartment and all three women were extremely bored because they had nothing to do. They had been shopping, gone out and Lady and Trish had even tried to see if there were any jobs, but there were none.<p>

Trish sighed, "You know what's happened don't you?" She said to Lady.

"What?" The Gunslinger asked.

"That idiot Dante probably has all of the demons tailing him around Crimson Island. And I'm sure that he's currently enjoying the company."

"If Dante has all these demons following him then, do you think they'll attack Nero." Kyrie asked. The two female hunters had told her that Dante had gone on a job and Kyrie had informed them that Nero was on the same job, so it was very likely that they would have met by now.

"I'm not sure" said Lady, "It's possible, but I wouldn't worry too much; he can take care of himself and if not then I suppose Dante is probably there."

Kyrie nodded, "But I can't help but worry."

The two hunters smiled, "It's understandable." said Trish, "You got yourself a nice guy there Kyrie."

* * *

><p>Inside the castle, the smashed portrait of Sanctus still covered the far wall and the chandelier still lay broken on the floor. The half-demons walked over to the right side of the main hall, jumped up on to the higher tier and went through the door. They went down the corridor that leads towards the gallery. As they walked through the dimly lit gallery, they looked at the chandelier that always moved on its own. Nero took his glove off of his right hand, exposing his Devil Bringer. Vergil noticed this and couldn't help but be fascinated.<p>

"Nero," The blue clad started. "Your arm, I've been meaning to ask you how you possess such a thing."

The teen paused, a little taken aback at the question, but he soon answered. "I was attacked a few months ago in a forest not too far from here, and then my arm changed. It sort of mutated in to what it is now in a few minutes; it's a bother sometimes, but I'll tell ya, it's damn useful." Nero explained.

Vergil nodded, "It's interesting how your demonic power seems to originate from your arm, I've never heard of it before."

Nero shrugged, "It's weird but, I don't care so much."

The three went through the door and headed down the walkway to the library. Once they entered, Dante and Nero instantly looked at Vergil, who was trying to figure out where exactly the book could be hidden.

"So Vergil," Dante started, "Where's the book?"

"It's somewhere in here" Vergil replied, Looking around.

"I know that, but where in here?"

"It's probably hidden."

Dante sighed, "Where in here is it hidden?"

Vergil glanced around the room, ignoring his twin. His sharp eyes spotted something that was out of place on the higher tier of the library. He jumped up, vaulted over the banister and walked over to a book case that had several empty spaces on it.

_He's on to something, _Nero thought, looking at the way the Dark Slayer was acting.

The blue clad picked up one of the books on the book case, that had been lying on top of other books and put it in the empty space on the top shelf. He then noticed that three more spaces were available on the shelf, so he got three other books and put them into the spaces.

"He figured that out quick." Dante muttered.

The wall behind the Gyro Blade shook and moved upwards. Vergil jumped down, joined Dante and Nero and watched as the wall moved, revealing a hidden chamber beyond it. The trio walked into the chamber. Inside there was a stand with a very old and worn book on it. Vergil picked up the book and flicked through the pages; they were covered in demonic and human text.

"This is the book" said the older twin.

"Are you sure?" Nero asked.

Vergil nodded, "Yes."

"Shall we get back to Crimson Island then?" Dante asked.

"Yeah," Said Nero, "Then we can figure out what's going on with the cathedral."

* * *

><p>Me: Sorry, don't kill me please! It's my teachers, that's why I'm updating late.<p>

Dante: Damn those teachers. Anyway thanks for reading and we hope you liked it.

Vergil: We'll hopefully see you all in the next chapter.

Nero: Ciao

Me: Merry Christmas everyone!


	8. Samurai demon

The Emperors Return

Chapter 7: Samurai demon

The three half-demons walked back across the bridge and away from Fortuna Castle. Vergil flicked though the pages of the book, staring at the demonic text. He closed the book with a snap and looked ahead of him, where several Frosts where gathered.

"I guess they don't want us to leave," Said Nero.

Dante unsheathed Rebellion, "Well in that case, we clear a path."

"My pleasure," Nero smirked.

The trio charged at the Frosts with their swords raised. Nero maxed out Exceed on Red Queen, grabbed a Frost with his Devil Bringer and stabbed it with his sword, killing it instantly. He then used Exceed again and rode it, smashing the Frost into another one of its kind. The force of the two Frosts colliding sent the teen into the air; he righted himself, and then descended, holding Red Queen above his head and brought it down onto another Frost; slicing it in half. The demon froze and its form shattered. Nero sheathed Red Queen, took out Blue Rose and fired a couple of shots at a Frost. The demon blocked the attack with its ice shield and for some reason stayed put.

Nero smirked; it must be scared of me. "Shall we dance?" He taunted, adding a bow.

Suddenly to the teen's surprise, Rebellion flew over his head and just managed to shave off some of the Frost's ice shield, before it came back around and sliced the demon in two before flying back over Nero's head. The young half-devil looked behind him and watched the red clad catch his sword and the sheath it.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Nero asked, "That nearly took my head off."

Dante chuckled, "I'm not trying to kill you, Kid. A demon I targeted just happened to be behind you that's all."

"Oh yeah, and what about the one in front of me then, how come you killed that one too?" The teen asked.

The red clad stopped to think, "I threw Rebellion too hard."

Nero shook his head, "Idiot." He went back to killing the Frosts.

"Whatever," said Dante; he whipped out Ebony & Ivory and began a rapid-fire assault on the Frosts. He shot them left and right, dodged their attacks when necessary and shot the ice projectiles that they fired at him. He turned around and shot another Frost, barely missing Vergil, who was busy fighting a whole group of them.

The blue clad threw the book up high in the air so he could use his sword. He hit a Frost with Yamato's sheath and then drew the O-Katana and finished it off. He summoned a few Summoned swords and used them to impale the Frosts. Vergil then turned around and saw that all the demons had stood in a nice little line for him. Perfect, He thought. The older twin charged at the Frosts with Yamato raised and sliced each of them in half as he went by; the fact that their bodies were sometimes hard to cut because they were made of ice didn't bother Vergil at all. Once he was done, the blue clad slowly sheathed Yamato; all of the Frost's shattered into ice and left nothing remaining. He held up his hand and caught the book by its spine.

All three half-devils saw the last Frost in the middle of the stone courtyard, charged at it and all of them impaled it with their swords.

"Not a bad workout" said Dante. "Although, I would have preferred something bigger."

"I agree with you on that," said Nero.

Suddenly, a giant demon appeared out of nowhere and landed in front of them. The ground shook a little and made the half-demons lose balance. The demon that stood in front of them was a giant Frost.

"Our prayers have been answered!" Dante yelled, Vergil face-palmed at his twins comment.

"That is one big Frost," Nero stated, backing away slightly so it couldn't attack him so easily.

"What's the matter, Kid, You scared?" Dante teased.

Nero looked at him, "Of that over grown ice lolly? No way."

Vergil sighed; he wanted to get moving and get to the cathedral, not stand here all day. "Right now let's just deal with it." He made to charge at the Frost, but was stopped when a giant icicle landed in front of him.

The three half-devils looked at the icicle and then dodged a swipe from the Frost. Nero charged at it, ready to strike with Red Queen, but he was swatted away by the demon and sent flying into the side of the mountain. The remains of the broken bridge that had snapped on his first visit to the castle fell on top of the teen, burying him under the rubble.

"Nero!" Dante cried. Vergil growled and charged at the demon, which was making its way over to the rubble to try and crush it. He ran up one of its arms and stabbed its right eye.

"Dante, I'll distract it, you try and get Nero out from underneath that rubble." said Vergil.

The red clad nodded and began ran over to the pile of rubble. He was just about to start shifting it when he felt surge of demonic power come from underneath it; Nero's demonic power. Suddenly, a burst of power blew away all of the rubble that was on top of Nero. The teen stood up; he had triggered his devil form and his eyes were burning red. He pulled out Blue Rose and fired a few shots at the Frost. Some Summoned swords travelled with the bullets as he fired them. Vergil's eyes widened slightly upon noticing this.

The teen holstered Blue Rose and then unsheathed Red Queen. He once again maxed out Exceed and then charged at the Frost, ready to strike. He jumped into the air and brought his sword down on the demon's head, the attack doing extra damage due to Exceed. Despite this attack, which had nearly killed the Frost, Nero wasn't finished with his brutal assault yet. He grabbed the giant Frost's tail with his Devil Bringer and span the demon around in the courtyard. Vergil and Dante both had to duck because if they didn't, it was likely that they would be knocked off of the edge of the courtyard.

Nero threw the Frost over the edge of the courtyard. His devil form disappeared and he fell to his knees, panting. The twins ran up to him and crouched down beside him. "You okay Kid?" Dante asked.

"Yeah," Nero replied, "But I think I over did it a little." He stood up, placed his hands on his knees and continued to pant from exhaustion.

* * *

><p>The trio walked through the streets of Fortuna, heading towards the port. Nero had regained most of the strength he had lost earlier after using a lot of his demonic power, but he was amazed at the fact that he had survived being crushed by a pile of stones.<p>

"Hey, Kid" Nero looked at Dante, "Is there a quicker way to get to Crimson Island than the ferry?" The red clad asked; he was already sick of riding the ferry.

The teen thought for a second, "Well, there are always the speed boats."

Dante rubbed his hands together, "Perfect, let's go."

* * *

><p>Lady, Trish and Kyrie sat in Devil May Cry, wondering what to do.<p>

Trish sighed, "They've only been gone a couple of days and there is already nothing to do... again."

"I have an idea, but you probably won't like it," said Kyrie.

Lady and Trish looked at her, "What is it?" Lady asked.

"Um, well, we could always clean the shop since it's such a mess and it will keep us distracted for a few hours." Kyrie suggested.

"Good idea" said the Gunslinger.

"We may have a small problem with that," said Trish.

Lady looked at her, "What kind of problem?"

"We'll have to go out and buy the cleaning products, since there are none here." Trish explained.

"Who cares?" Lady asked, "That will give us more to do rather than sitting around like this."

* * *

><p>The three half-demons stepped off of the speed boat they had been on. They made their way towards the cathedral with haste, eager to find out what secrets it held. Vergil, who had been looking through the book, was beginning to wonder why it held no information concerning the secrets that are held within the cathedral.<p>

Suddenly a load of screams could be heard up ahead. The trio ran down the street, dodging all of the civilians coming the other way. They reached the place where the commotion had all started and saw in front of them a pool of blood, with a demon standing on the other side of it. The demon was black in colour and clad in armour of the same colour. Its face was obscured due to a mask that it wore, but a pair of glowing red eyes could be seen.

Behind the demon was the lifeless body of a young woman no older than twenty. Her crimson blood dripped off of the demon's right, clawed hand. The black demon turned to face the trio; out of its right arm a dark blade formed and extended until it three quarters of its blade went past its arm. The blade was completely black and was in the shape of a Katana.

Dante and Nero reached for their swords, "Don't" Vergil ordered. "I'm fighting this one."

"No way, we're getting in on this too" said Nero.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna sit back and watch," Dante argued.

"Well tough, I'm fighting it since it uses a Katana," said Vergil. He held out the book, "Hold this." He told Dante. The red clad obeyed knowing he wasn't going to be able to change Vergil's mind. The blue clad took a few steps forward and then took up his fighting stance. He rested his hand on Yamato's pommel and waited for the demon to make the first move. As he expected, it ran towards him and lashed out with its bladed arm. Vergil drew Yamato and blocked the attack with ease and then proceeded to attack it with his sword, but his attack was parried by the demon.

The blue clad and the demon engaged in a heated battle; their attacks were quick and powerful, but only Vergil's were actually causing some damage. The red clad suspected that was because of Yamato, since it was an O-katana it was noticeably longer than the Katana-like blades the demon was using. The demon already had a few minor scratches whereas Vergil had none at all and was starting to overpower the demon.

The older twin and the demon collided, their swords heated slightly from the sheer force of pressure that the two were putting on their swords; Vergil seemed to have the upper hand against the demon and was about to impale it when the demon formed another Katana which rested on its left arm and stopped Yamato from stabbing it. The two broke apart and rested for a bit. Vergil panted heavily; he had underestimated this demon a bit, but wasn't going to admit it of course. He looked at the twin blades that the demon had formed. "So, you have the power to summon blades at your will, interesting."

The demon took up its battle stance again, Vergil did the same but he did so a bit more cautiously. The blue clad attacked first this time and targeted the demons stomach. The demon knew that it would not be able to block the attack, so it targeted the blue clad's stomach. The older twin stabbed the demon with Yamato, but in return was impaled by the two Katanas from the demons arms.

"Vergil!" Dante cried.

Vergil gasped, but kept his concentration fixed on the demon. For some reason, Dante felt a small pain in his stomach. He pulled out Yamato and the demon pulled out his Katanas and made to escape. "No you don't." Vergil growled. He tried to stop the demon from fleeing by slashing it with his O-Katana, but he only managed to cut off the bottom half of its mask. The injured demon jumped on to a nearby roof top and then made its escape from there.

The older twin used Yamato to remain standing (well I call it standing, he was more bent over to be honest) he tried to go after the demon, but when he attempted to stand up straight, he fell on to the ground. Dante and Nero ran over to him.

"You okay Vergil?" Dante asked.

Vergil picked himself off of the ground; a small pool of blood had gathered beneath him, but he could feel his wounds healing. "I'm fine, but I'm going after that demon."

"No way are you going after that demon like this," Dante hinted his twin's wounds.

Knowing that his twin was now being overly stubborn, Vergil agreed "Fine, but we're going to the cathedral."

Nero looked at the young woman who had been killed. We went up to her and noticed that there was something written in blood on the ground. "Erm guys, you really need to see this."

The twins looked at Nero and then got up. Dante helped Vergil to stand and the two walked over to the teen. Dante growled, "What the hell? There's another thing to confuse us."

"No Dante, it confirms our suspicions" said Vergil. Before them on the ground lay a number written in blood; it was the number twenty four.

"An equal number of deaths," said Nero.

"We need to solve this quickly, before anyone else dies," said Dante.

Vergil started walking towards the cathedral, "Then let's hurry."

Dante and Nero nodded and caught up him. The red clad gave Vergil the book back and they walked to the cathedral and went inside.

"So Vergil, what are we meant to do to find these 'secrets' in the cathedral?" Dante asked.

"I don't know; the book didn't explain anything." said Vergil.

"What! So we can't advance now?" Nero asked.

Vergil shook his head, "Give me a minute." He opened the book, turned to the back and noticed that there was something hidden in the cover. He drew Yamato and carefully cut around it. Once he was finished, he pulled the cover back to reveal a piece of folded worn paper. He unfolded it and discovered that it was a map, showing all kinds of tunnels. There were several notes on the edges of the map; one of them was a picture of a lever. Vergil decided that it couldn't hurt to look for this lever.

The blue clad looked around the cathedral, searching for anything that looked out of place. Then he spotted it; two levers on each side of the cathedral on the third floor. "There!" Vergil said suddenly.

"What?" Dante asked.

"Two levers, third floor, on the far wall!" Vergil explained.

Dante and Nero went up there. They each took one of the staircases on each side. Once they were up there, they looked at Vergil for further instruction, "Now what?" Nero asked.

"I think you should pull them at the same time," Vergil replied.

Dante looked across at the teen; they both grabbed on to the levers, "Ready Kid?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, now" said Dante. The two hunters pulled the levers at the same time. After, all three half-demons heard the sound of gears clanking together. The altar at the far end of the cathedral shook and moved backwards to reveal a set of stairs leading down into a tunnel.

Nero and Dante joined Vergil and they all looked down into the pitch black darkness.

"So, what do you think is down there?" Nero asked.

"I don't know," said Vergil, "But were going to find out soon."

* * *

><p>Me: Thanks for reading, I hope you liked the chapter!<p>

Dante: What is it with you and your game influences?

Me: What do you mean?

Vergil: The face off I have with that samurai demon was inspired by Metal Gear Solid 4's Raiden vs Vamp battle. And the mystery stuff come from the Uncharted series.

Me: And?

Nero: It's cool


	9. Investigation

The Emperors Return

Chapter 8: Investigation

The three half-devils walked down the steps into the darkness; the entrance that they came though closed behind them and they were plunged into darkness. Nero took his glove off and rolled up his sleeve, exposing the Devil Bringer; it provided an eerie blue light to the dark tunnel they were in.

"Great, the way out is closed and all we have for light is the Kid's arm," said Dante.

"You're wrong there Dante," Nero began, sticking his left hand into to one of his pockets. "Unlike you, I always come prepared," the teen pulled out a small torch from his pocket and turned it on. The trio started walking.

"I came prepared too; I brought Rebellion and Ebony & Ivory with me," said Dante.

"Yes, but you're never prepared for anything else are you, brother?" Vergil asked, "Otherwise you wouldn't have to improvise all the time." The blue clad thought back to the incidents at Temen-Ni-Gru.

"Yeah well, it's fun" said Dante.

They carried on walking through the darkness.

"You find improvising fun? When was the last time you actually had a plan?" Nero asked.

"Two weeks ago, when we took out the Assaults," Dante stated.

Nero looked at him, "You call that a plan? All we did was charge in there, guns blazing and swords swinging, kill all the demons and collect the money."

"It was still a plan," Dante argued. Nero sighed and shook his head.

Vergil sighed, "Plan or not Dante, it sounds like it was reckless and you know it."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Dante said dismissively.

The trio walked past a doorway in the stone tunnel. Vergil stopped and looked inside; the room was rather large and very well lit. Every wall inside was made of marble that was polished to perfection. Eight stone columns stood tall on each side of the room, holding up the ceiling. There were several engravings in the walls that the blue clad could not depict from where he was standing, but he knew that they would probably be important clues to the murder case.

Noticing that Vergil wasn't walking with them, Dante and Nero stopped and turned around to the blue clad. "Vergil?" Dante asked.

"I think I've found a room we should investigate," said the blue clad.

The younger twin and Nero walked up to him and looked inside the room, "I think you could be right, Vergil." said Dante.

The older twin took a step forward into the room. Suddenly, a marble slab under his foot moved downwards and a stone door came crashing down in the entrance, heading straight for Vergil.

"Look out!" Nero yelled. The teen pushed the blue clad out of the way, but this meant that he pushed him into the room. The stone door came down between the trio, separating them.

Dante and Nero pushed on the stone door; "Vergil!" the red clad called. He pressed his ear against the ice cold stone to try and hear a reply. When he didn't hear even a faint sound he called out again, "Vergil!" again he heard no reply from his twin.

* * *

><p>On the other side of the stone wall, the Dark Slayer growled a little as he looked at the thing that blocked his way out. He thought about using Yamato to slice the stone away, since it could easily cut through the door, but he decided against it, since his highly trained senses told him that breaking down the door would be a foolish thing to do.<p>

Vergil sighed and looked around, "There should be another exit anyway."

* * *

><p>"Dammit," the red clad muttered. "Looks like we'll have to break it down instead," Dante unsheathed Rebellion and prepared to strike the door down.<p>

Nero backed away slightly and raised an eyebrow, "Dante, I don't think that will work."

"Of course it will work, watch" the red clad unleashed Million stab on the door, but as soon as Rebellion touched the stone, he got an electric shock that made him cry out in pain. The red clad dropped his sword and fell to his knees, panting.

Nero sighed, "I hate to say I told you do, but, I told you so." He walked over to Dante, "You okay?"

The older hunter groaned as he hauled himself to his feet, "I'm fine, but I don't think we're getting in this way." He brushed his hands against his coat and looked at the door. He stared at it intensely, as if he could see though it and into the room itself.

* * *

><p>Vergil stared into the palms of his gloved hands, panting, while he knelt on the floor. He seemed a little shaken, which was usual for the Dark Slayer since he was normally unfazed by anything. <em>…What… what just happened? I was just looking at the door and then… I felt a terrible pain, like I was being electrocuted. <em>The older twin looked up at the door and then had an idea about what must have happened. _Dante must have tried to break the stone door, then I somehow felt the shock… could it be because the room itself has a defence mechanism that activates when someone tries to damage the door? And electrocutes people inside this room when that happens?_

"Foolishness Dante, foolishness."

Vergil stood up and glared at the door. His eyes narrowed when another thought came into his mind, _no, that's not it; it's something else…_

* * *

><p>Dante turned his head away from the stone and looked down the tunnel. "Come on, let's find another way in." The red clad began to walk cautiously through the tunnel, being careful in case there were other traps.<p>

The teen followed close behind the older half-devil, making sure that the torch he was holding lit up their path enough so they could spot anything that could be dangerous. The pair walked for a bit until they came across two path ways; one going left and the other going right.

"Great," said Nero, "Okay, left or right?"

Dante crossed his arms and actually looked like he was thinking about this decision logically, (yes _logically_) "Okay, we don't go down the left one because left is seen as the Devil's route, so we go down the right. Only we don't because demons think in equal numbers and would go down the right path which would probably be littered with traps, so we do go down the left path."

Nero looked at him with a very confused expression, "That made no sense."

"Basically-"

"Don't bother, you'll only confuse me more," the teen interrupted.

"Okay, Kid," said Dante.

The two hunters began walking down the left tunnel, only to have the entrance to said tunnel close behind them.

"Great," Nero sighed, "Now we have no choice but to go down this route."

The older hunter sighed, "Don't sweat it, Kid; this will be like a walk in the park," Dante told him, while walking backwards. It was then the red clad discovered that he was standing on top of a trap door, which decided to suddenly open, revealing several tall spikes with a few skeletons stuck on them.

Nero ran forward and grabbed Dante's forearm just in time to stop him from falling on to one of the spikes. "Damn, you need to lay off the pizza," the teen joked, as he pulled the older hunter up.

"Shut up, Kid," Dante said, as he clambered over the edge with Nero's help. The red clad stood up and looked over the edge, studying the spikes, "Damn, that's a lot of spikes."

The teen also looked over the edge and looked as well, "Yeah…" he looked behind him, "Looks like we took the route with all the traps."

Dante chuckled, "Looks that way," the older hunter sighed, "Well, let's just suck it up and carry on." He started walking.

"Wait," Nero ordered.

The red clad stopped in his tracks and turned around, "What?"

The young half-devil walked past Dante, "This time, I'm going first."

Dante held his hands up, "Whatever you say, Kid." He started walking behind the teen.

* * *

><p>I cut this chapter in half so that I could update this crappy fic. My other DMC fics are a lot better than this so I'm sorry. I will rewrite this someday, I'm just very busy at the moment. Hope one person liked it and thanks for reading (if you did)<p> 


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